As the clock counts down to the New Year, we would like to recap the top ten posts on Scope in 2010. These are the stories you read most this year:
Careful, your comfy chair might be making you soft: An article published in the journal Science suggests that textures, shapes, weights and temperatures - physical cues associated with touch - influence thoughts, behavior and judgments.
Ancient crocodile mummies scanned at Stanford: A pair of Greco-Roman crocodile mummies belonging to the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum at UC Berkeley were scanned at Stanford in March. CT images of one of the crocodiles are also available here.
Hit the brakes on health-care bill, say two top Dem pollsters: Patrick Caddell and Douglas Schoen, pollsters for the last two Democratic U.S. Presidents, advised party leaders to drop their current approach to pass the Senate-approved health-care reform bill in a Washington Post commentary.
Bioengineers make cancer detector from digital camera: In the spirit of do-it-yourselfer Mark Frauenfelder, Rice University bioengineers developed a cancer-detection device from a $400 digital camera and fiber-optic cables.
Stanford to live webcast Dalai Lama events Oct. 14 & 15: The Dalai Lama delivered a public talk at Stanford last month titled "The Centrality of Compassion in Human Life and Society." He also participated in a daylong conference sponsored by the medical school's Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.
"Natural" or not, chicken nuggets are high in fat, sodium: A discussion on the nutritional value of chicken nuggets, which a Consumer Reports Health investigation found to be high in fat and sodium.
Boston water emergency: How a hospital operates without water: Last May, Massachusetts General Hospital was forced to operate without tap water or ice and only a limited amount of bottled water after two major pipe ruptures left much of Boston without potable water.
Stanford geneticist Carlos Bustamante named a MacArthur Fellow: Carlos Bustamante, PhD, a professor of genetics, was awarded a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" on Monday. Bustamante's research focuses on understanding the evolution and interactions of population genetics in humans, dogs and even plants and pathogens.
A new target-heart-rate formula for women, by women: A Northwestern University cardiologist has generated a new formula for estimating the peak heart rate a woman should attain during exercise: 206 minus 88 percent of age. Under the old formula, based on studies of men and used for almost four decades, that number was figured to be 220 minus age.
Using stem cells to treat and cure immune diseases: Director of Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Irving Weissman, MD, along with student Agnieszka Czechowicz, published an article discussing how a one-time treatment with blood stem cells could potentially provide a cure for autoimmune diseases, HIV/AIDS and may also eliminate the ongoing need for anti-rejection drugs by organ transplant recipients.
From December 20 to January 3, Scope will be on a limited holiday publishing schedule. During that time, you may also notice a delay in comment moderation. We will return to our regular schedule on January 3.
